Mayor unveils help during economic downturn

Although the constant election coverage has taken some of the spotlight off the floundering economy, Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced a set of 18 city initiatives designed to help New Yorkers through these difficult economic times.
Bloomberg hopes that the 18 initiatives, which center on creating jobs and supporting the existing workforce, helping homeowners and providing additional relief to vulnerable populations in the city, will provide immediate assistance to those struggling.
“To do it at a time when we’ve directed city agencies to tighten their belts in response to looming budget deficits, we’ve leveraged federal, state, and private dollars, along with a significant refocusing of city spending,” Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg made the announcement at City Hall on Thursday, October 30 - one week after the City Council approved a term limits bill that the Mayor pushed for so that voters would have the choice to elect him to a third term. During his campaign for the term limits extension, Bloomberg frequently cited his ability to lead the city through what many expect to be a prolonged period of economic difficulty.
One of the featured initiatives involves the city buying distressed properties and turning them into affordable housing units. With $24 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Center for NYC Neighborhoods will fund the acquisition and redevelopment of properties already foreclosed. The city expects to purchase up to 115 buildings, creating between 250 and 300 affordable housing units.
Locally the city will expand the capacity of the Workforce1 NYC Transportation Center in Jamaica, which provides job training and placement services in the fast-growing transportation industry, and provide additional resources to food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the borough.
“These are preliminary steps - as economic conditions and needs change, we’ll adjust what we’re doing to expand what is working, remove what isn’t and find ways to address problems we couldn’t anticipate,” Bloomberg said.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who joined Bloomberg and the heads of many city agencies at the announcement, agreed and praised the new initiatives.
“Getting ahead of this storm won’t be easy, but with all of the people here today stepping up to the challenge together, I’m confident we’ll help New Yorkers deal with this economic downturn in tangible ways that can make an immediate impact,” said Quinn.